Cieniawa Ski

Photo: SN Cieniawia-Ski. Geographically, Cieniawa lies in the Beskid Niski (Low Beskids), but because it is so close to Nowy Sącz it is often counted, for practical reasons, as part of the Beskid Sądecki region. It is quite a large village on the main road no. 28, which runs from Nowy Sącz towards Gorlice and Krosno. It occupies a broad depression between two parallel ranges of an area sometimes called the Grybów Mountains. To the south rises the high, steep wall of the Jaworze range, while to the north lies the much lower and gentler range of Rosochatka and Jodłowa Góra. One of the side ridges running down from Rosochatka encloses, on the east and south, a small side valley that is home to the recently expanded Cieniawa-Ski resort. A fairly long piste runs down the northern slopes of that ridge, so the snow cover can usually be kept in relatively good condition from December to the end of March. In its upper part the slope is a fairly narrow, steep cutting through the forest; lower down it widens into a gentler incline that also suits beginners and children. The whole slope is floodlit, has snowmaking and is groomed. In total the resort has three lifts: a large one, more than half a kilometre long, serving the whole slope; a smaller one running parallel to it and ending before the sharp break of the slope in the upper section; and, on a separate nursery slope, a small drag lift for the youngest skiers and those taking their first steps on skis. At the valley station there is a small regional inn, as well as a ski hire shop and a ski school. All in all, it is a small but rather likeable resort with a fair variety of piste difficulty for a place of this size. Good for families and for a quick afternoon ski after work.